Slush, Slush and Slush

After months of preparations it was finally time for Slush this month. Named after the Slushy weather conditions this time of the year, the annual start-up event attracts over 12.000 visitors every year and is the place for start-ups to share their ideas and attract investment. The Netherlands was also present with the NL Lounge, which served as a nice place for Dutch entrepreneurs to connect and enjoy a cup of coffee to escape the Slush madness for a bit.

Slush itself took place on Thursday and Friday in the third week of November, but a lot of side events already took place earlier that week. On Tuesday, I received the Dutch delegation at Helsinki airport together with colleagues from the Netherlands. This year’s delegation was the largest yet, with more than 180 people and 72 startups! In the evening, the embassy organized a kick-off event in the garden of the Ambassador’s residence with glögi and sausages. After this there was a large dinner for the Dutch delegation to get to know each other and hear about all the innovative ideas of the startups.

On Wednesday morning, I helped out at a pitching event that the embassy organized together with Business France and Business Catalonia in Espoo. A nice addition was that one of the Dutch startups won the competition with their pitch about innovative heat pumps! A large portion of the Dutch delegation were students from the 4 technical universities in The Netherlands. On Wednesday evening, the final of the 4TU Impact Challenge took place, where 8 startups again had to pitch their business ideas to a large audience, including Prince Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau. A startup called Cryocop, that has found a way to separate carbon and nitrogen from industrial emissions, won the competition.

Then on Thursday it was time to gear up for Slush itself. The event was opened with a speech about the need for more European technological independence by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. It was interesting to see that the PM’s speech attracted many people to the main stage, especially young people. Being the youngest prime minister in the world and recent media attention has certainly resonated with young people from around the world.

For the rest of Slush I was promoted from intern to “Lounge Manager”, so I mainly made sure that our NL Lounge looked representable and took care of logistics together with my colleagues. It was a super cool experience to be part of Slush and see startups do their thing in the wild and attend presentations by CEO’s of large well-known companies. Certainly something I would never have experienced if it wasn’t for my internship at the Dutch Embassy!

Hydrogen

Even though Slush is one of the highlights of the year, there was more interesting work to be done! Together with my Trade & Innovation colleague Miina we took the train to the east, to a city called Lappeenranta, where we attended the BotH2nia Field Tour. During this field tour, we visited a number of companies such as UPM and Ovako Steel that use hydrogen in their production processes, or are planning to do so in the future. It was really cool to see hydrogen being applied in practice and learn more about the challenges that companies face with regard to the energy transition. Next to this, it was a nice excuse to see a different part of Finland!

This month I also contributed to finalizing the terms of reference for a cross-Nordic hydrogen market study that will be carried out early next year. It has been super interesting to learn how such a project is put together, discuss on the right choice of wording and experience how the coordination between many involved governmental bodies takes place. The market study will be carried out to give Dutch companies a better overview of the hydrogen markets of the Nordics and inform where there might be opportunities for them to do business. Hopefully this study will be a nice step in the right direction for more hydrogen developments and cooperation between the Netherlands and the Nordic countries.

Snow in Finland!

After Slush it was time for snow! As soon as the first snowflakes landed in the city it felt like Christmas had arrived. Also not unimportant, it makes the dark Nordic winter a bit brighter! November is known to be one of the darkest months in Finland, so it is really important to stay active, try catch the little daylight there is and take some extra vitamin D to compensate. At the office we have big UFO-like daylight lamps that help a little bit with waking up in the morning. Luckily, Christmas is around the corner and the city is already lit up with an overload of Christmas lights. The energy crisis can’t stop Christmas for the Finns!

In terms of staying active, this month I took a bus to Tampere, the third city of Helsinki. Tampere is a student city with a lot of industrial history. Part of the city center is the Finlayson area, where 19th century textile production halls have been transformed into shops and cafés. Close to Tampere you can find a town called Nokia, known for the near-indestructible mobile phones that put Finland on the map in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Tampere and the wider region is certainly a place that you should visit when you’re in Finland!

The coming weeks will be all about rounding up 2022 business and putting All I Want for Christmas on repeat. End of the month I will be flying home for Christmas but don’t worry; I’ll be back in Finland in January. See you in the next blog!